Review: Fong Lye Restaurant @ The Gardens

Taking a break from all the cookings, let's venture to Fong Lye Restaurant. This Taiwanese restaurant have 3 outlets in Kuala Lumpur - Jalan Imbi, Desa Sri Hartamas and The Gardens. The first two are more formal, serving ala carte dishes where else The Gardens' outlet have mostly set options.

Since I was sharing with my boiboi, I opted for the Fresh Tomato Fried Egg with Fish Fillet set where else hubby ordered 3 Variety Supreme Diced Chicken set. Our sets came with the standard rice topped with some minced meat sauce which was good on its own; 3 side dishes which were braised peanuts and tofu, french beans and a deep fried fish paste; and a soup.



Hubby took a sip of the soup and asked me how come the soup is bitter. I lifted my spoon and dug into the soup and ladle out pieces of bittergourd. I look at them then I stared at him "Of course it's bitter lorrr... need more explanation?" LOL

When my set arrives, me and boiboi were excited cos the dish was bubbling away in the little wok and stove. Smelt so good, even my hubby was enticed. My boiboi enjoyed this a lot since it's his favourite tomato sauce base. It's basically like any sweet and sour fish dish but I personally liked it a lot with the addition of the egg which jazzes up the dish. Gave me a great idea on what to cook the next time.



Hubby's chicken pieces came in a very dark dry and sticky gravy. It has a fragrant cooking wine taste and the additional local basil leaves perked up the dish. Wished there were more gravy though.



The total bill of that two sets plus a glass of papaya milk came to about RM52.00 after 10% service charge and 5% Government tax.


Fong Lye Restaurant
Lot T208 3rd Floor The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603- 2282 8699


Technorati Tags: the gardens + taiwanese food

Shallots and Lemongrass Soup

During my recovery period, I was sort of on a confinement basis, not overly strict but I was fed with lots of hot soup and tonics to boost my health and keep my body warm. Since I have a heaty body, too much of these goodies landed me in "hot soup" literally a couple of days back. Some how I caught a viral fever then came the cough and sore throat. As if not enough, I'm getting a cold now!

Anyway, I will post up some of the food and soups that I have taken during my recovery, well, just for the records and for those who are interested to know what kinda of food people on confinement take.

One of the soup I drank was this Shallots and Lemongrass Soup. Simply boil a big handful of smashed shallots, a couple sticks of lemongrass, chicken carcass and some white peppercorns for a couple of hours. Drink whilst its hot. This soup induces lots of heat and it's not pleasant in the hot weather. I was perspiring buckets after drinking this!



Technorati Tags: confinement food

Steamed Ribs with Tasty Sauce

**Non-Halal**

One of the dishes that my mom made, easy peasy. This recipe is modified from The Best of Patsie Chong - Pregnancy & Confinement recipe book which I've gotten sometime back. Other than confinement dishes, there are a lot of simple but brilliant recipes which one can play around with. Her version of the recipe called for double-boiling these ribs for 2 hours. I've thought of dumping them into the slow cooker for 3 hours but mom said she will try steaming instead. It's really tasty as stated.

Steamed Ribs with Tasty Sauce

500g spare ribs
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp black bean paste
2 tsps sugar
1 tbsp plum sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp abalone sauce
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped chilli
1 tbsp Shao Shing wine
1 tsp corn flour

Mix all ingredients together for 15 mins or longer. Steam for 30 mins or until spare ribs are tender.

Ref: The Best of Patsie Chong - Pregnancy & Confinement

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + pork ribs

Happy 10th Anniversary

Ok today's my turn...

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Cyrene and Matt; Mr and Mrs TengTeng; and Dr Chen and hubby (in advance),



Image from My-Wallpapers.net

Chocolate & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

The weekend before I got admitted to hospital, I made a batch of Chocolate & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies from another of my fave book under Page One Publishing, 500 Chocolate Delights by Lauren Floodgate. I got a jar for Yozora but they all got eaten up by hubby whilst I was in the hospital. Will make up with Yozora with another batch soon *promised* as she gave me some of her delish Banana Oatmeal Cookies yesterday. They're of the soft kind and tasted special cos it has a wonderful banana aroma that I loved.

The Chocolate & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies are of the soft and chewy type... healthy too since the recipe needed less than 3 tbsp of oil and only one egg. As usual, my count of chocolate chips, raisins and hazelnuts (kar liew - something additional to the recipe) were extraordinary more than stated in the recipe made these cookies tasted, errrmmm, well fantabulous! If you love soft and chewy cookies, this recipe is definitely for you to keep, well don't just keep, bake a batch or two or more!

Chocolate & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

(A)
85g plain flour, sifted
40g self-raising flour, sifted
28g porridge oats
2 tsp baking powder
55g light brown sugar
55g caster sugar

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp sunflower oil
40g raisins
85g plain chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 190C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine ingredients A. In a separate bowl, beat together egg and vanilla. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined (I've used a spatula to mix, easy peasy, something I learnt from watching Sugar).

Slowly add in the oil to the mixture, beating well between each addition, until the mixture start to comes away from the sides of the bowl - you may not need to use all the oil (I think I've used 2.5 tbsp of oil only.)

Stir in raisins and chocolate chips (and the nuts if using). Divide cookie dough into 12 - 15 portions and roll into balls. Place balls well spaced apart and flatten the dough slightly with the back of the spoon. (I did this by scooping and dropping the dough with 2 spoons. Worked just as well.)

Bake for 12 - 15 mins until pale golden. Store in air-tight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Ref: 500 Chocolate Delights by Lauren Floodgate

Technorati Tags: cookies

The Miele Guide: Vote for Your Fave Restaurants

Another pimping in the line is The Miele Guide.



Am sure by now, most of you are aware of this guide which will be published in October especially if you're an ardent fan of Masak-Masak. In case you're not aware, our makan queen Boo_licious, have a role in this guide which she had highlighted in her blog. In the meantime, the voting period is still on until 31 July 2008. You might even surprise yourself by winning opportunities to wine and dine in Asia's best restaurants or stay in the region's most luxurious hotels! So hurry over to The Miele Guide and cast your votes!!!

What exactly is The Miele Guide?

The Miele Guide is an exciting, new and truly unique Asian restaurant guide. The Guide is set to become the newest and most respected standard by which restaurants in Asia are judged. Written by food lovers who know and love Asia, The Miele Guide will rank and profile restaurants across the region’s major cities in a slim, indispensable volume.

Unlike most guides, there will be no arbitrary, secretive selection procedures. Instead, an initial list of restaurants has been shortlisted by 84 of Asia’s most respected food journalists. The restaurants that make it to the guide are decided by people like you and me via online voting. From 15 May to 31 July 2008, we have invited the public to cast their votes via our website www.mieleguide.com. Voters can vote for restaurants that are already shortlisted or can nominate restaurants not yet on the list. In July, a Special Jury of foodies and F&B professionals will also cast their votes. The results from these two polls will then be tallied and confirmed by our in-house team in August.

The Miele Guide 2008/09 edition will be released and distributed internationally at the end of October 2008.